title: Applicability of SSR markers to the traceability of monovarietal olive oils.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To protect the features and authenticity of food products, the European Commission enforces two certification labels: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). EEC Regulation No. 510/2006 imposes criteria for labelling, production and commercialisation of olive oil. Since plant genotype is a major determinant in establishing the PDO and PGI labels, methods to ascertain the varieties present in a batch of olive oil are essential in validating product conformity. The traceability of olive oil can be assessed through simple sequence repeat (SSR) co-dominant markers targeted to specific regions of DNA from olive cultivars.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one monovarietal olive oils were analysed with nine nuclear and two shortened SSRs. For each marker the correspondence of allelic profile with the reference cultivar, the reproducibility of profiles in different DNA extractions and the polymorphism information content were determined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that using a panel of SSR markers such as those described in this paper allows one to make a reliable attribution of an olive oil to a specific cultivar.
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics and Environmental Biotechnology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Parma, Via G.P. Usberti 11/A, I-43100 Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Michelangelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vietina
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agrimonti
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marmiroli
authors.forename: Urbana
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bonas
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marmiroli
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D018744:DNA, Plant; D005060:Europe; D005515:Food Labeling; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D031658:Olea / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils